Typically, when a pregnant woman arrives at a hospital in anticipation of childbirth, the woman is fitted with an identification band, e.g., a bracelet, which includes pertinent information such as her name, her assigned room, and, perhaps, any relevant medical information. The identification band is typically constructed of a plastic material, or a plastic reinforced or coated paper on which information has been computer printed or hand written.
Immediately after an infant is born, the infant too is fitted with an identification band, e.g., an anklet. The infant's anklet typically contains the same basic information as the bracelet typically worn by the mother. In the hours, or days, subsequent to birth, the infant will be transported from various places in the hospital to the mother's room many times. The trips will be toward such ends as feedings and familiarization.
Each time the newborn infant is brought to the mother's room, it must be verified that the infant has been brought to the proper mother. Verification of the infant/mother match is typically accomplished by comparing the information on the infant's anklet to that on the mother's bracelet. Unfortunately, this method of verifying an infant/mother match suffers from two possible problems. First, in a large hospital, in which the maternity ward may span several floors or wings that may simultaneously accommodate a large number of mothers and infants, there is a possibility that two or more mothers/infants may have similar names resulting in an infant being brought to a woman that is not its mother. When the problem is realized and corrected, there is bound to be a degree of emotional stress or trauma, especially during the highly emotional time surrounding childbirth.
The second problem is that, even in smaller hospitals, because verification of an infant/mother match is typically carried out by a side-by-side comparison of the mother's bracelet and the infant's anklet, if the wrong infant is brought to a mother the infant is already in the mother's presence, perhaps even her arms, before the error is realized. As discussed above, such an occurrence is very likely to result in a great deal of anxiety, and potentially undermine the parents faith in the hospital, therein provoking even greater anxiety.
It is therefore desirable to have a system that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by allowing verification of a mother/infant match that is independent of name, and will allow for verification before the infant is brought into the mother's presence.